Albion 0 Chelsea 3 - the Swain game

The phoney war is over, now the real conflict begins.

Saturday's events at the Hawthorns told us as little about Albion's Premier League survival prospects as it did Chelsea's chances of winning the title.

After back-to-back beatings by half of the "big four," there is no hiding place for Tony Mowbray's team in the challenges which now fly at them before Christmas.

Beginning with this weekend's visit to Stoke, followed by contests against Wigan, Portsmouth, Sunderland and even Manchester City, Albion have to prove to themselves as much as anyone that they can "football" their way to Premier League safety.

Seven points from those 12 would be nice, nine would be fantastic, three or less would be damning, six is possibly more realistic.

Having been effortlessly tossed aside by one of the best teams in Europe on Saturday, the Baggies have now come to the defining weeks of their season.

How they fare should not change the club's commitment to Mowbray's masterplan – to steady accumulate the talent and establish the football principles which will give Albion a long range Premier League future.

We are about to find out whether the team may have to take one step back before shaping further forward advances.

For some this will not be good enough. They will demand survival at any cost and the culture clash which is coming our way at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday will bring this debate to the fore.

Stoke v Albion is punk rock meets Bacharach and David. A little perspective then from the weekend.

The reason why Villa fans are more than just a little excited about beating one of the big boys on Saturday is because they very rarely do so – and that's a club which has invested millions ensuring it has not missed a single season in the Premier League.

True, while shipping 10 goals in three spanking defeats, Albion will be disappointed that they been about as inconvenient to United, Liverpool and Chelsea as fleas biting an elephant's backside.

Jose Bosingwa stepped inside Paul Robinson after 34 minutes and fooled everyone, most especially Scott Carson, by not crossing to the far post but whipping a brilliant shot through the Albion keeper's nearside.

This saw Chelsea go in front thanks to a player whose £16million fee matched Albion's entire summer spending. We all thought that Jeremy Peace had splashed out a bit this year.

For all the endless soul-searching about whether Albion should have kept Phillips or need some holding midfield muscle.

For all the discussions about whether they should be more warrior and less chess-player, the Baggies were chewed up by Chelsea because they had inferior footballers and athletes in every area of the pitch.

Mowbray will back his personnel to fare better against the mere mortals who will oppose them in the weeks ahead but he will know there is work to do in the meantime.

Albion played great store in restoring a fit-again Abdoulaye Meite to the centre of their defence but it proved a torrid return against the lethal Nicolas Anelka, aggravated by the gaps Chelsea exposed between the central defender and Gianni Zuiverloon.

For all Zuiverloon's undoubted promise, there is still much he has to learn about the positional demands of English football.

The momentary lapses in concentration, which Chelsea exposed in scoring goals two and three, are also a continuing worry for Albion as much as their continuing struggle to make any kind of impact against defenders of such authority as John Terry and Co.

Ishmael Miller is wound up tighter than an Icelandic banker's wallet at the moment, so desperate is he to make an impact at this level.

Each thwarted venture forward brings a grimace and angry gesture of frustration which reveal his desperation to do well. Albion can only hope this next run of games give the forward a better chance to prove, as Mowbray maintains, there is a top flight striker in there.

But will he play? Mowbray admits that a five-strong midfield leaves Albion short up front while playing the extra striker exposes their defence too easily.

The time has now arrived for solutions and not more questions.

The Baggies camp will be hopeful that James Morrison, victim of an unpleasant and unnecessary challenge from Boswinga which raked the back of his calf and Achilles, recovers.

His ball carrying and general attacking play from midfield was a principle feature of the team's encouraging opening half hour.

So were the wonderful touches of Borja Valero, whose assurance in possession is going to be a key feature in the challenges ahead.

Albion need the composure Valero brings to their game, especially at a time when captain Jonathan Greening's form and influence appears to have dwindled from that of last season.

Most of all, the season-long dilemma of turning so much pleasing possession into meaningful assault on the opposition goal must be resolved.

Albion are not going to stay in this division by creating two or three half chances a game. This they managed against Chelsea before that wonderful Boswinga strike pushed his side into firm authority.

A drop in concentration then allowed Anelka to race away on to a simple header forward by Wayne Bridge and clip a shot over Carson before the Frenchman's movement took him away from Meite to beat the Albion keeper at his near post following Kalou's diagonal thrust.

Full marks at this point to the Smethwick End. For nearly 20 minutes from the start of the second half, they kept up a continuous chant of support - "Oh when the stripes . . ." – which signalled defiance and continuing support.

Not for the first time, Albion fans have risen to the challenge with backs pressed firmly against the wall.

It helped draw a spirited second half from Mowbray's players, who refused to go under to a massacre and even glimpsed a shaft of daylight in the cameo from substitute Filipe Teixeira.

The final image from an afternoon stamped in inevitability was of Miller exchanging tops with Didier Drogba. It meant the Chelsea substitute left the pitch wearing a Baggies shirt.

If only, Lord, if only.

By Martin Swain